Participant Info

First Name
Amanda
Last Name
Shuman
Country
Germany
State
Affiliation
University of Freiburg (Germany)
Website URL
http://amandashuman.net
Keywords
sport in China, history of Maoist China, gender in China, China-Africa, Cold War sport, sports diplomacy, Cold War East Asia, digital history
Availability
Media Contact
Additional Contact Information
PhD
PhD

Personal Info

Photo
About Me

I am currently a post-doc researcher and database administrator for the Maoist Legacy project at the University of Freiburg (Germany). I received my PhD in East Asian History from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and am currently working on a book manuscript based off my dissertation and tentatively titled, “The Politics of Socialist Sport in Mao’s China.”

I also maintain a wiki that provides information (including timely updates) on historical archives and other resources for researching the People’s Republic of China. I am the co-founder and main host of the DH East Asia Podcast.

Recent Publications

“No longer ‘sick’: Visualizing ‘victorious’ athletic bodies in 1950s China.” Historical Social Research (forthcoming)

“Friendship and fraternal ties: Learning from the Soviet Union and building the People’s Republic of China through sport in the early 1950s.” Cold War International History Project (conference volume, forthcoming)

“‘You challenge yourself and you’re not afraid of anything!’ Women’s narratives of running in Shanghai.” Co-authored with Noora Ronkainen. Sociology of Sport Journal (forthcoming, September 2018)

“Friendship is solidarity: The Chinese ping pong team visits Africa in 1962.” In Simon Rofe, ed., Sport and Diplomacy: Games within Games (Manchester University Press, forthcoming, August 2018)

“Giving ‘prominence to politics’: African sportsmen visit China in the early Cultural Revolution.” In Kathryn Batchelor and Xiaoling Zhang, eds., China-Africa Relations: Building Images through Cultural Cooperation, Media Representation and Communication (London: Routledge, 2017), 51-72.

“‘Running Fever’: Understanding runner identity in Shanghai through turning point narratives.” Co-authored with Noora Ronkainen, Ting Ding, Shilun You, and Lin Xu. Leisure Studies, May 2017.

“A Champion for Socialist China.” Afro-Asian Visions, June 7, 2016

“‘China, why not?’: Serious leisure and transmigrant runners’ stories from Beijing.” Co-authored with Noora Ronkainen, Marlen Harrison, and Tatiana Ryba. Leisure Studies, February 2016

Media Coverage
Country Focus
China
Expertise by Geography
Asia, China, East Asia
Expertise by Chronology
Modern, 20th century, 21st century
Expertise by Topic
Diplomacy, Gender, Sports, Women